Difference between Life and Death

Posted on December 27, 2010 by koshal Last updated on: December 17, 2014

Life vs Death

The basic difference between life and death is that basic they are opposite words. Life is concerned about the vital air inside our body. Death results when the vital air escapes from the body. Also, life and death are not incidents only related to human beings. These incidents are related to all organisms. However, while death refers to the state of being dead, the word life is used in other contexts within the English language as well. These different uses of the word life as well as the difference between life and death will be discussed in this article.

What does Life mean?

Life means the state of living. A human with life thinks and acts. Brain remains active when there is life within the body. You are conscious during your life. A person with life moves around and does various things and breathes.

The term life is used as a suggestive word too. The word life is used in the sense of ‘most important aspect’ as you find in the sentence, ‘expression is the life of art’. Observe the sentence ‘she is my life’. You tend to get the suggested meaning of ‘vital breath’ or ‘soul’ by the use of the word ‘life’.

In literature, you use the term life as synonyms for a biography. Biography is the story of someone’s life. In this sense, Life of Shakespeare means the story of Shakespeare’s life or the biography of Shakespeare.

Also, life is used to identify the period between birth and death of a living thing. This is done specially for a human being. For example,

She lived all her life in the country dreaming of visiting the city.

This means this person spent the time between her birth and death in the country dreaming of visiting the city.

Also, according to the Oxford English dictionary, life is also used to mean ‘vitality, vigour, or energy.’ For example,

She was full of life when I met her.

This means, ‘she was full of energy when I met her.’

What does Death mean?

Death means the state of being dead. While a human with life thinks and acts, a human being that is dead does not think and act. Brain becomes inactive immediately after death. You cease to become conscious at death. A person who is dead is very different from someone alive as a person that met with death cannot move around, cannot perform actions and cannot breathe too. The term death is used as a suggestive word too.

At several places, we find the use of the word death in the capacity of a suggestive. The word denotes ‘final moments’ in sentences such as ‘he scored the vital goal at the death’. You understand that the footballer netted the most important or the winning goal towards the end of the game or in the final moments of the game. Thus, you would find the difference between the words life and death even when they are used in the suggested sense.

What is the difference between Life and Death?

• Life and death are incidents related to all organisms.

• A human with life thinks and acts whereas a human being that is dead does not think and act.

• Brain remains active when there is life and brain becomes inactive when a person dies.

• The two terms life and death are used as suggestive words too.

• The word life gives the meaning of ‘vital breath’ whereas the word death gives the meaning of ‘final moments’ in suggestion.

• Life implies survival whereas death implies end.

• Life implies essence whereas death implies decay.

• Life is also used to mean ‘vitality, vigour or energy.’

• Life is used to identify the period between birth and death of a living thing.